Baby feeding times

Hi, I've got 3 children. two are 11 and 10 both weaned around the 4 month mark. my newest arrival is 4.5 months. alot has changed in these years with regards to weaning. I read something from the world health organisation that in a babies 1st year of life milk is the most essential and food should just be about new tastes and textures rather than feeding to replace the milk.
Its most commonly mentioned about the first 6 months to milk feed exclusively to reduce childhood obesity, allergies, and better for immature digestive systems

I would suggest that if its the milk she wants then thats better than stuffing her with even more food plus milk has all the nutrients she needs.

Ultimately you must do what's best for you both. x

Happy feeding!

Hi Kit

Sounde to me like you and your baby are doing fine (I'm a dreaded Health Visitor!). Milk is still very important and your baby should be offered the 4 bottles a day, although the amounts may vary, as with baby Kit. Keep the bottles to mealtimes as you are doing.
Babies of 6-12 months generally need about 500-600mls milk daily - milk in meals can be counted too e.g in cereal/porridge, cheese sauce etc.
At around 8 mths your baby may lose interest in one of the bottles ( usually lunch or teatime) at which point you can stop it and offer water from a cup instead.
Advice is that babies should be off bottles and on to cups by 1 year old - for their dental health.
Hope this helps a bit.

Sorry about the last short message - I'm at work and was interupted.
1 oz = 30 mls, but don't get hung up that your baby is taking a bit more than that - it's fine. As you gradually increase the amount of solids, her milk intake will decrease, but as I said before milk is still important so don't cut milk too quickly.

Jellyhead - it's difficult to comment on individual babies as they're all different (weight, height etc.) - your Health Visitor will know your situation so will be able to advise you better.
Broadly speaking - babies have growth spurts at approx 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, etc. so at these times they usually demand feeds more often. This can often be seen as a sign that they are hungry. But if you go with it (e.g. feed 3 hrly instead of 4 hrly) it usually settles down again.

As far as I know research to support changing to hungry baby milks is limited, but it doesen't appear to be harmful. However, as you say, it is made differently from first milk - very, very basically the curds sit in the stomach for longer, it delays gastric emptying, so baby feels fuller for longer. Sometimes a change of milk can settle baby but don't count on it - maybe it's a growth spurt or unsettled for another reason! Omneo Comfort is designed for babies with colic as it has a lower lactase content so is more easily digested (makes poo nice and soft too!). Again - with some babies it works and some it doesn't.

of course you're an ok mum lol!

growth spurt at 4 weeks is interesting, he's nearly 4 weeks but in the last 2 days has been really hungry, he must be growing, although last time he was weighed he was gaining a whole pound a week, if that's normal for him i dread to think how much will he gain during a spurt lol! i suppose the 4 week growth spurt is the reason why so many people say their babies were on rusks etc. at 3 weeks old, not just my parents/in-laws generation but people my age too. not that i'm considering it for roo of course, it just makes sense, my MIL has been hinting that my husband needed food at that age.